I'm a day early with this but I may busy travelling tomorrow.
The 8th of October 1871 saw an outbreak of fires on a huge scale in the mid-western United States, probably the best known being the Great Chicago Fire, though hat was one of the smaller outbreaks that night. It still devastated that city, killing over three hundred people, destroying eight square kilometres and about 18,000 buildings and causing damages estimated at half-a-billion dollars.
The night also saw the Port Huron Fire, the Holland Fire, the Manistee Fire and, most devastating of all, the Peshtigo fire. The latter is still the deadliest fire in United States history, having killed around two thousand people (estimates vary from 1,500 to nearly 3,000 people) and burning about 6,500 square kilometres of land around the town of Peshtigo in Wisconsin (about 400km north of Chicago)
The 1871 firestorm was spread by strong prevailing winds, after it gained sufficient energy the blaze developed into a huge wall of fire that moved 150 km/hr and created tornado-like windstorms.
The fire jumped the waters of Green Bay and destroyed twelve towns in the area. Trees were uprooted and wagons tossed around like toys by the winds.
The Reverend Peter Pernin, pastor of the Congregational Church, wrote an eyewitness account of the events of the night:
A bad night.
So why did so many seemingly separate fires start in one night, and why did they spread so far and so fast? Opinions vary, and there are a lot of myths.
The most predominant of these myths is the story of Mrs. O'Leary's cow, who supposedly kicked over a lantern while it was being milked (allegedly at a barn at 137 DeKoven Street).
A later, but equally dubious, hypothesis is spontaneous combustion amongst the hay bales stored in the barn
Certainly the weather contributed to the fires. October the 8th was an unusually hot night, in a long and particularly dry and hot period and the arrival of a cold front had caused winds to spring up rapidly.
The local logging industry also contributed by negligent practices, failing to safely burn off the brush that had been cleared. In fact wildfires had become common in the region, often triggered by sparks from passing steam locomotives.
Interestingly, from the perspective of those interested in historical weirdness, a comet (Biela II or B, a fragment of the periodic comet Biela which broke up ~1845) was also blamed for starting the widespread fires. Indeed this started soon after the fires; at the enquiry one Michael Conway, a fireman, testified of having seen strange blue flames in some basements which he attributed to "cometary gases"
Ignatius L. Donnelly, that nineteenth century answer to Erich von Daniken for crackpottery, propounded this idea but it has stuck around despite being unlikely in the extreme.
Other fringe theories include deliberate arson by a group whose offer of a carbon dioxide fire-fighting system had been spurned and divine retribution for allowing taverns to open on Sundays.
In all probability the cause was a mixture of factors, one or more small fires started by human carelessness exacerbated by the hot, dry, weather, and fanned by the unusually high winds.
References.
Reverend Pernin's account
"The Great Peshtigo Fire" by Sarah Biondich
Wiki on the Chicago fire
Wiki on the Michigan fires
Wiki on the Port Huron fire
The 8th of October 1871 saw an outbreak of fires on a huge scale in the mid-western United States, probably the best known being the Great Chicago Fire, though hat was one of the smaller outbreaks that night. It still devastated that city, killing over three hundred people, destroying eight square kilometres and about 18,000 buildings and causing damages estimated at half-a-billion dollars.
The night also saw the Port Huron Fire, the Holland Fire, the Manistee Fire and, most devastating of all, the Peshtigo fire. The latter is still the deadliest fire in United States history, having killed around two thousand people (estimates vary from 1,500 to nearly 3,000 people) and burning about 6,500 square kilometres of land around the town of Peshtigo in Wisconsin (about 400km north of Chicago)
- As a comparison, that's more than twice the size of the state of Rhode Island or one twentieth of the area of England, burnt in one night.
The 1871 firestorm was spread by strong prevailing winds, after it gained sufficient energy the blaze developed into a huge wall of fire that moved 150 km/hr and created tornado-like windstorms.
- It was so hot that beach sand was fused into glass and humans (and animals) were incinerated with little residue
The fire jumped the waters of Green Bay and destroyed twelve towns in the area. Trees were uprooted and wagons tossed around like toys by the winds.
The Reverend Peter Pernin, pastor of the Congregational Church, wrote an eyewitness account of the events of the night:
Quote:
The air was no longer fit to breathe, full as it was of sand, dust, ashes, cinders, sparks, smoke, and fire. It was almost impossible to keep one's eyes unclosed, to distinguish the road, or to recognize people, though the way was crowded with pedestrians, as well as vehicles crossing and crashing against each other in the general flight. Some were hastening toward the river, others from it, whilst all were struggling alike in the grasp of the hurricane. A thousand discordant deafening noises rose on the air together. The neighing of horses, falling of chimneys, crashing of uprooted trees, roaring and whistling of the wind, crackling of fire as it ran with lightning-like rapidity from house to house—all sounds were there save that of human voice. People seemed stricken dumb by terror. They jostled each other without exchanging look, word, or counsel. The silence of the tomb reigned among the living; nature alone lifted up its voice and spoke. The Port Huron fire devastated not only the town of Port Huron in Michigan but more than 4,500 square kilometres of land in the 'thumb' of the state of Michigan, killing more than fifty people. The towns of Holland and Manistee were also badly damaged, with about 10,000km2 of the state of Michigan burned in total. |
A bad night.
So why did so many seemingly separate fires start in one night, and why did they spread so far and so fast? Opinions vary, and there are a lot of myths.
The most predominant of these myths is the story of Mrs. O'Leary's cow, who supposedly kicked over a lantern while it was being milked (allegedly at a barn at 137 DeKoven Street).
- While the barn was indeed one of the first buildings burned, the cow story was a blatant fabrication by a reporter (Michael Ahern) for the anti-immigrant Chicago Republican newspaper.
A later, but equally dubious, hypothesis is spontaneous combustion amongst the hay bales stored in the barn
Certainly the weather contributed to the fires. October the 8th was an unusually hot night, in a long and particularly dry and hot period and the arrival of a cold front had caused winds to spring up rapidly.
The local logging industry also contributed by negligent practices, failing to safely burn off the brush that had been cleared. In fact wildfires had become common in the region, often triggered by sparks from passing steam locomotives.
Interestingly, from the perspective of those interested in historical weirdness, a comet (Biela II or B, a fragment of the periodic comet Biela which broke up ~1845) was also blamed for starting the widespread fires. Indeed this started soon after the fires; at the enquiry one Michael Conway, a fireman, testified of having seen strange blue flames in some basements which he attributed to "cometary gases"
- It should be noted that high-proof alcohol burns with a blue flame; as does carbon monoxide
Ignatius L. Donnelly, that nineteenth century answer to Erich von Daniken for crackpottery, propounded this idea but it has stuck around despite being unlikely in the extreme.
- For a start there has never been a proven case of a meteorite starting a fire, they're actually cold on impact.
- More likely is a meteor exploding in mid-air from thermal stresses, as with Tunguska and Chelyabinsk.
Other fringe theories include deliberate arson by a group whose offer of a carbon dioxide fire-fighting system had been spurned and divine retribution for allowing taverns to open on Sundays.
In all probability the cause was a mixture of factors, one or more small fires started by human carelessness exacerbated by the hot, dry, weather, and fanned by the unusually high winds.
References.
Reverend Pernin's account
"The Great Peshtigo Fire" by Sarah Biondich
Wiki on the Chicago fire
Wiki on the Michigan fires
Wiki on the Port Huron fire
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1s92Z8A
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